Leslie Moonves

By David Zurawik and David Zurawik,SUN TELEVISION CRITIC | July 24, 2000

LOS ANGELES - Thanks to the phenomenal success of "Survivor," ratings are going up, up, up for CBS this summer. But network executives spent much of the weekend here defending themselves against accusations that "Survivor" and their other omnipresent reality series, "Big Brother," are driving broadcast standards down, down, down while contributing to a meanness in American culture. "OK, `Big Brother' is a very controversial show. We knew it was a controversial show before we put it on the air this summer," Leslie Moonves, president and chief executive officer of CBS Television, said in meeting with reporters gathered in Pasadena for the summer press tour.

The changing of the guard in latenight TV continues with David Letterman today telling a studio audience that he plans to retire at the end of 2015 after what will be 22 years on CBS. The 66-year-old comedian is network TV's longest running latenight host. Letterman started his latenight run in 1982 on NBC and switched to CBS in 1993 as part of a highly publicized battle with Jay Leno to be the successor to Johnny Carson. Leno got Carson's "Tonight" show chair, and Letterman went to CBS. Leno retired earlier this year at NBC and was replaced by Jimmy Fallon.

By David Zurawik and David Zurawik,SUN TELEVISION CRITIC | November 25, 2003

The Hollywood producers and director of the controversial miniseries The Reagans reacted angrily yesterday to CBS chairman Leslie Moonves' explanation as to how and why his network chose not to air the film about former President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy. In talking to reporters yesterday during a separate CBS news conference, Moonves compared the miniseries directed by Robert Ackerman and produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron to Oliver Stone's JFK. He characterized it as "interpretive" and lacking "balance" in the way it presented a political "point of view."

On Jan. 3, Sumner M. Redstone will get his wish when Viacom, the sprawling media company he built, is split into two separate entities. Now what? Even before the separation, the two companies - Viacom, which includes Paramount and cable networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon, and will be led by Thomas E. Freston; and CBS, encompassing the CBS network, television and radio stations, Simon & Schuster and an outdoor advertising business, to be run by Leslie...

On Jan. 3, Sumner M. Redstone will get his wish when Viacom, the sprawling media company he built, is split into two separate entities. Now what? Even before the separation, the two companies - Viacom, which includes Paramount and cable networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon, and will be led by Thomas E. Freston; and CBS, encompassing the CBS network, television and radio stations, Simon & Schuster and an outdoor advertising business, to be run by Leslie...

The changing of the guard in latenight TV continues with David Letterman today telling a studio audience that he plans to retire at the end of 2015 after what will be 22 years on CBS. The 66-year-old comedian is network TV's longest running latenight host. Letterman started his latenight run in 1982 on NBC and switched to CBS in 1993 as part of a highly publicized battle with Jay Leno to be the successor to Johnny Carson. Leno got Carson's "Tonight" show chair, and Letterman went to CBS. Leno retired earlier this year at NBC and was replaced by Jimmy Fallon.

By David Zurawik and David Zurawik,SUN TELEVISION CRITIC | July 25, 2001

LOS ANGELES - Executives at all the networks have had a hard time defending their reality programs on Summer Press Tour. But only one has had to deflect criticism of its trashy show after a woman had a knife put to her throat by a fellow contestant. And yesterday, CBS president Leslie Moonves - the most polished, glib and experienced of all the network bosses - came close to losing his cool when faced with a barrage of questions suggesting that CBS is behaving more irresponsibly than any other network with its handling of Big Brother 2. Moonves and CBS Entertainment President Nancy Tellum wanted to talk to the nation's television critics about getting more viewers last year than the other networks, and about their big plans for the fall, including the Oct. 11 launch of Survivor 3: Africa.

This fall, UPN and WB, which have struggled and failed to find a large audience, will cease to exist. Rising from their ashes will be a new broadcast television network, CW. Some of the expiring networks' more popular programming - including UPN's Veronica Mars, Smackdown and Everybody Hates Chris and WB's Smallville and Gilmore Girls - will be aired on CW, Leslie Moonves, chief executive of CBS Corp., said yesterday in announcing the move, which amounts to an acknowledgement that neither of the small networks could survive profitably on its own. More coverage The impact at Sinclair Broadcast Group.

CBS may be riding high on its third consecutive season as the most-watched network and enjoying a summer of success, but its executives have a cloud hanging over their heads: more than a half-million dollars' worth of fallout from Janet Jackson's Super Bowl flash. Earlier this month, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael K. Powell proposed fining each of the 19 TV stations directly owned and operated by CBS $27,500 for airing the two-second breast-baring incident. On Sunday, addressing a gathering of television critics in California, Leslie Moonves, co-president of Viacom Inc. who oversees CBS, said he is leaning toward fighting the FCC in court if the network's local stations are fined.

By This column was compiled from dispatches by Bloomberg News | July 1, 2008

Nation Acquisitions CBS Corp. completes deal for Cnet CBS Corp., the U.S. broadcaster controlled by Sumner Redstone, completed its $1.8 billion acquisition of Cnet Networks Inc., becoming one of the 10 largest Web site companies. Cnet, along with existing Internet businesses, will form a new digital division led by Quincy Smith, New York-based CBS said yesterday. Smith, hired to run CBS Interactive in 2006, reports to Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves. Moonves sought Cnet, owner of GameSpot.

By David Zurawik and David Zurawik,SUN TELEVISION CRITIC | November 25, 2003

The Hollywood producers and director of the controversial miniseries The Reagans reacted angrily yesterday to CBS chairman Leslie Moonves' explanation as to how and why his network chose not to air the film about former President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy. In talking to reporters yesterday during a separate CBS news conference, Moonves compared the miniseries directed by Robert Ackerman and produced by Craig Zadan and Neil Meron to Oliver Stone's JFK. He characterized it as "interpretive" and lacking "balance" in the way it presented a political "point of view."

By David Zurawik and David Zurawik,SUN TELEVISION CRITIC | July 25, 2001

LOS ANGELES - Executives at all the networks have had a hard time defending their reality programs on Summer Press Tour. But only one has had to deflect criticism of its trashy show after a woman had a knife put to her throat by a fellow contestant. And yesterday, CBS president Leslie Moonves - the most polished, glib and experienced of all the network bosses - came close to losing his cool when faced with a barrage of questions suggesting that CBS is behaving more irresponsibly than any other network with its handling of Big Brother 2. Moonves and CBS Entertainment President Nancy Tellum wanted to talk to the nation's television critics about getting more viewers last year than the other networks, and about their big plans for the fall, including the Oct. 11 launch of Survivor 3: Africa.

By David Zurawik and David Zurawik,SUN TELEVISION CRITIC | July 24, 2000

LOS ANGELES - Thanks to the phenomenal success of "Survivor," ratings are going up, up, up for CBS this summer. But network executives spent much of the weekend here defending themselves against accusations that "Survivor" and their other omnipresent reality series, "Big Brother," are driving broadcast standards down, down, down while contributing to a meanness in American culture. "OK, `Big Brother' is a very controversial show. We knew it was a controversial show before we put it on the air this summer," Leslie Moonves, president and chief executive officer of CBS Television, said in meeting with reporters gathered in Pasadena for the summer press tour.

Several days after the video of former Ravens running back Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee became public, a few NFL sponsors balked at having their ads aired as planned during the Ravens' nationally televised Thursday night game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on CBS. One sponsor asked to have its ad broadcast in a different game, according to a published report that the network did not dispute. Another requested that its ad air at a different point than originally scheduled in the Sept.

Faced with a mandate to remake the network's nightly news broadcast, CBS News President Andrew Heyward has commissioned staffers to come up with approaches that would favor more of a storytelling style over the traditional format that generally recaps news of the day. Heyward told correspondents and producers about the new concept for the CBS Evening News in a meeting held at the network's New York headquarters Thursday and again in a smaller gathering yesterday,...